Pol Pot

== After Democratic Kampuchea ==

=== Fighting back against the Vietnamese: 1979–1989 ===
[[File:Case 002 Initial Hearing Khieu Samphan (2).jpg|thumb|right|In 1979, Khieu Samphan (pictured here in 2011) replaced Pol Pot as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea]]

In July 1979, Pol Pot established a new headquarters, Office 131, on the western flank of [[Mount Thom]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=411}} He dropped the name "Pol Pot" and began calling himself "Phem".{{sfn|Short|2004|p=411}} In September 1979, Khieu announced that the Khmer Rouge was establishing a new united front, the [[Patriotic Democratic Front]], bringing together all Cambodians who opposed the Vietnamese occupation.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1pp=169–70|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=415}} Senior Khmer Rouge members began disavowing the cause of socialism.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} The group members stopped wearing uniform black outfits; Pol Pot himself started wearing jungle green fatigues and later Thai-made [[Safari jacket|safari suits]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} Short believed that these changes reflected a genuine ideological shift in the Khmer Rouge.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} In October, Pol Pot ordered an end to executions, a command which was largely followed.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} In November 1979, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] voted to recognise the Khmer Rouge delegation, rather than that of the Vietnamese-backed government, as the legitimate government of Cambodia.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=156|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=412}} In December, Samphan replaced Pol Pot as prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea, a move that allowed Pol Pot to focus on the war effort and which was perhaps also designed to improve the Khmer Rouge's image.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=171|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=415}}

During the monsoons of summer 1979, the Khmer Rouge troops began filtering back into Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=411}} Many young Cambodians joined the Khmer Rouge forces, wanting to drive the Vietnamese Army out.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=412}} Boosted by the new Chinese supplies, the Khmer Rouge rebuilt its military structure in early 1980.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=412}} By mid-1980, the Khmer Rouge claimed it had 40,000 troops active in Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=412}} From 1981, Pol Pot's main goal was to attract popular support among the Cambodian population, believing that this would be vital in enabling him to win the war.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}} In August 1981, he travelled, via Bangkok, to Beijing, where he met with Deng and [[Zhao Ziyang]].{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=415–16}} Deng had been pushing for Sihanouk, living in Pyongyang, to become Cambodian head of state, something the monarch had reluctantly agreed to in February 1981.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=415}} In September, Sihanouk, Samphan, and [[Son Sann]] issued a joint statement in Singapore announcing the formation of their own coalition government.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=416}}

{{Quote box
| quote = I am old now and handicapped. I know that people inside Cambodia fear me. So when we drive out the contemptible Vietnamese and gain peace, I will retire if the comrades so desire. But if I return now, and the comrades can't drive out the Vietnamese, how can I sit still? I must share my experience and knowledge. If the Vietnamese leave and we can defend our country, I will{{nbsp}}... retire. And when I die I will die peacefully.
| source=— Pol Pot, 1987{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=184}}
| align = left
| width = 25em
}}

In December 1981, Pol Pot and Nuon Chea decided to dissolve the Communist Party of Kampuchea, a decision taken with very little discussion among the party's membership, some of whom were shocked.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=169|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=416}} Many outside commentators believed the dissolution was a ruse, and that the CPK was actually going underground once more, although Short noted that this was not the case.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=416}} Pol Pot proposed a new Movement of Nationalists that would replace the party, although this failed to fully materialise.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=416}} The CPK Standing Committee was replaced by a Military Directorate, the focus of which was on driving out the Vietnamese.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=416–17}} Pol Pot's decision to disband the party was informed by global events; his anti-Vietnamese army was backed by many capitalist countries while the Vietnamese were backed by most Marxist-governed countries. At the same time, he believed that his main Marxist backers, the Chinese, were themselves restoring capitalism with Deng's reforms.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}} Reflecting the ideological shift, among the Khmer Rouge, collective eating was ended, the ban on individual possessions was lifted, and children were again allowed to live with their parents.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=418}} Pol Pot commented that his previous administration had been too left-wing and claimed that it had made mistakes because he had placed too much trust in treacherous individuals around him.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=418}}

In June 1982, at an event in Kuala Lumpur, the Khmer Rouge were among the factions declaring the formation of a [[Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea]] (CGDK) as an alternative to the administration in Phnom Penh.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=419}} On the ground in Cambodia there nevertheless remained little military collaboration between these factions, which included the Khmer Rouge as well as the Sihanoukist National Army and Son Senn's [[Khmer People's National Liberation Front]].{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=420–21}} In 1983, Pol Pot travelled to Bangkok for a medical check-up; there he was diagnosed with [[Hodgkin's disease]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=421}} In mid-1984, Office 131 was moved to a new base further into Cambodia, near the O'Suosadey river.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=421}} In December, the Vietnamese Army launched a major offensive, overrunning the Khmer Rouge's Cambodian base and pushing Pol Pot back into Thailand. There, he established a new base, K-18, several miles outside [[Trat]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=422}}

In September 1985, Pol Pot resigned as commander-in-chief of the Khmer Rouge forces in favour of Son Sen; he nevertheless continued to wield significant influence.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=423}} In the summer he married a young woman named Mea; the following spring their daughter, Sitha, was born.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=423}} He then travelled to Beijing to undergo cancer treatment at a military hospital, only returning to Cambodia in the summer of 1988.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=423–24}} In 1988, the anti-Vietnamese factions entered into negotiations with the Phnom Penh government.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=424–25}} Pol Pot deemed this too soon, for he feared that the Khmer Rouge had not gained sufficient popular support to produce significant gains in any post-war election.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=425}}

=== Fall of the Khmer Rouge: 1990–1998 ===
The [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] and the subsequent end of the [[Cold War]] had repercussions for Cambodia. With the Soviet Union no longer a threat, the U.S. and its allies no longer saw Vietnamese domination of Cambodia as an issue. The U.S. announced that it no longer recognised the CGDK as the legitimate government of Cambodia at the UN General Assembly.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=426}} In June, the various Cambodian factions agreed to a ceasefire, to be [[United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia|overseen by the United Nations]], with the formation of a new Supreme National Council to facilitate the implementation of democratic elections.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=427}} Pol Pot agreed to these terms, fearing that if he refused the other factions would all unite against the Khmer Rouge.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=427}} In November, Sihanouk returned to Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=427}} There, he praised the Vietnamese-backed leader, [[Hun Sen]], and stated that the Khmer Rouge's leaders should be put on trial for their crimes.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=428}} When Samphan arrived in Phnom Penh with the Khmer Rouge's delegation, he was beaten by a mob.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=428}}

Pol Pot established a new headquarters along the border, near [[Pailin province]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=428}} He called on the Khmer Rouge to redouble their efforts in gaining support across Cambodia's villages.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=429}} In June, Samphan announced that in contravention of earlier agreements its troops would not disarm, stating that it refused to do so while Vietnamese soldiers remained in Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} The Khmer Rouge became increasingly confrontational, expanding its territory across western Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} It carried out massacres of the Vietnamese settlers who had recently arrived in the area.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} Hun Sen's forces also carried out military activities, with UN peacekeepers proving ineffective in preventing the violence.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} In January 1993, Sihanouk returned to Beijing, declaring that Cambodia was unprepared for elections.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=430}} The Khmer Rouge had formed a new party, the [[Cambodian National Unity Party]], through which it could take part in the election, but in March Pol Pot announced that they would boycott the vote.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=430–31}} At this point he moved his headquarters to [[Phnom Chhat]]; Samphan joined him there, having withdrawn his Khmer Rouge delegation from Phnom Penh.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=431}}

In the [[1993 Cambodian general election|May 1993 elections]], [[Norodom Ranariddh]]'s [[FUNCINPEC]] won 58 of the 120 available seats in the [[National Assembly of Cambodia|National Assembly]]; Hun Sen's [[Cambodian People's Party]] came second. Sen, who was backed by the Vietnamese, refused to acknowledge defeat.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=431}} Sihanouk negotiated the formation of a coalition government between the two parties, introducing a system whereby Cambodia would have two prime ministers, Ranariddh and Sen.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=431}} The new Cambodian National Army then launched an offensive against the Khmer Rouge. By August, it had captured Phnom Chhat, with Pol Pot fleeing back into Thailand.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=432}} The Khmer Rouge launched a counter-offensive, having regained much of the territory they recently lost by May 1994.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=432}} Pol Pot moved to [[Anlong Veng]], but as that was overrun in 1994 he relocated to [[Kbal Ansoang]], on the crest of the [[Dangrek Mountains]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=434}} The Khmer Rouge nevertheless faced growing levels of desertion over the first half of the 1990s.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}}

Pol Pot placed renewed emphasis on those living in Khmer Rouge territory imitating the lives of the poorest peasants and in 1994 ordered the confiscation of private transport and an end to cross-border trade with Thailand.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}} In September he ordered the execution of a Briton, a Frenchman, and an Australian who had been captured in a Khmer Rouge attack on a train.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=436}} In July 1996, a mutiny broke out among the Khmer Rouge and in August it was announced that Ieng Sary, [[Y Chhean]], and [[Sok Pheap]] were breaking away from the movement, taking troops loyal to them. This meant that around 4,000 soldiers left, almost halving the troop forces that the Khmer Rouge then commanded.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=437}} By the end of 1996, the Khmer Rouge had lost almost all the territory they held in the interior of Cambodia, being restricted to a few hundred miles along the northern border.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=437}} Pol Pot commented to his aides: "We are like a fish in a trap. We cannot last like this for very long".{{sfn|Short|2004|p=437}} Pol Pot's health was declining. He suffered from [[aortic stenosis]] and no longer had access to follow-up treatment for his earlier cancer.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}} A stroke left him paralysed on the left side of his body,{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}} and he eventually required daily access to oxygen.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=438}} He spent increasing amounts of time with his family, in particular his daughter.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=433}}

=== Imprisonment and death: 1997–1998 ===
[[File:Graf pol pot.JPG|thumb|Pol Pot's grave in the [[Anlong Veng District]] of [[Oddar Meanchey Province]]]]

Pol Pot had grown suspicious of Son Sen and in June 1997 ordered his assassination. Khmer Rouge cadres subsequently killed Sen and 13 of his family members and aides; Pol Pot later stated that he had not sanctioned all of these killings.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=440}} Ta Mok was concerned that Pol Pot could turn on him too. Mok rallied troops loyal to him at [[Anlong Veng]], informing them that Pol Pot had betrayed their movement, and then headed to [[Kbal Ansoang]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=440}} Fearing Mok's troops, on 12 June Pol Pot, his family, and several bodyguards fled on foot. Pol Pot was very frail and had to be carried.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=440–41}} After Mok's troops apprehended them, Pol Pot was placed under [[house arrest]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=441}} Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea sided with Mok.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=441}}

American journalist [[Nate Thayer]] conducted Pol Pot's last interview while Pol Pot was under house arrest. Pol Pot stated that his "conscience is clear" but acknowledged that mistakes were made and told Thayer that "I want you to know that everything I did, I did for my country".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/2a1128d4b0c52563496f1e296df0a229|title=Pol Pot: Mistakes Were Made|website=AP NEWS|access-date=3 November 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417123637/https://apnews.com/article/2a1128d4b0c52563496f1e296df0a229|url-status=live}}</ref> He also rejected the idea that millions had died saying "To say that millions died is too much" and that "You know, for the other people, the babies, the young ones, I did not order them to be killed".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-10-23-9710230347-story.html|title=POL POT FEELS NO GUILT FOR BUTCHERY|first=New York Times News|last=Service|website=chicagotribune.com|date=23 October 1997 |access-date=14 September 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417123707/https://www.chicagotribune.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-23-mn-45896-story.html |first=Maggie |last=Farley |title=Ailing Pol Pot Looks Back on Reign Without Remorse|date=23 October 1997|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=14 September 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417123656/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-23-mn-45896-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In late July, Pol Pot and the three Khmer Rouge commanders who remained loyal to him were brought before a mass meeting near [[Sang'nam]]. Thayer was invited to film the event.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=441}} There, the Khmer Rouge sentenced Pol Pot to life imprisonment; the three other commanders were sentenced to death.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=442}} Three months later, Ta Mok permitted Thayer to visit and interview Pol Pot.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=442}}

On 15 April 1998, Pol Pot died in his sleep of a [[heart attack]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=442}} Thayer, who was present, claimed that Pol Pot killed himself when he became aware of Ta Mok's plan to hand him over to the United States, saying that "Pol Pot died after ingesting a lethal dose of a combination of [[Diazepam|Valium]] and [[chloroquine]]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/259622.stm |title="Killing Fields Leader 'killed himself'," ''BBC News,'' January 21, 1999 |access-date=14 March 2021 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306110815/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/259622.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Poole, Teresa (21 January 1999). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pol-pot-suicide-to-avoid-us-trial-1075283.html "Pol Pot `suicide' to avoid US trial"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501053637/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pol-pot-suicide-to-avoid-us-trial-1075283.html |date=1 May 2019 }}. ''The Independent''. London. Retrieved 5 August 2019.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Gittings|first1=John|first2=Mark|last2=Tran|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jan/21/cambodia|title=Pol Pot 'killed himself with drugs'|work=The Guardian|date=21 January 1999|access-date=8 August 2014|archive-date=8 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608090623/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jan/21/cambodia|url-status=live}}</ref> His body was preserved with ice after an improvised embalming with formaldehyde had failed, so that his death could be verified by journalists attending his funeral.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=442}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Sainsbury |first=Peter |title=Burned like old rubbish |date=24 April 1998 |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/burned-old-rubbish |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=25 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125012442/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/burned-old-rubbish |editor1-first=Ly |editor1-last=Tayseng |editor2-first=Sam |editor2-last=Rith |editor3-first=Phak |editor3-last=Seangly |editor4-first=May |editor4-last=Kunmakara |editor5-first=Pen |editor5-last=Simala |work=[[The Phnom Penh Post]] |language=English |publisher=Post Media Co Ltd |publication-place=[[Phnom Penh]], [[Cambodia]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Chandler |author1-link=David P. Chandler |title=A small, muddled, erratic, frightened man |date=27 June 1997 |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/small-muddled-erratic-frightened-man |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=10 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410204341/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/small-muddled-erratic-frightened-man |editor1-first=Ly |editor1-last=Tayseng |editor2-first=Sam |editor2-last=Rith |editor3-first=Phak |editor3-last=Seangly |editor4-first=May |editor4-last=Kunmakara |editor5-first=Pen |editor5-last=Simala |work=[[The Phnom Penh Post]] |language=English |publisher=Post Media Co Ltd |publication-place=[[Phnom Penh]], [[Cambodia]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Handley |first1=Erin |last2=Sineat |first2=Yon |last3=Meta |first3=Kong |title=Twenty years after Pol Pot died a broken man, his memory looms large |date=13 April 2018 |url=https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-post-depth/twenty-years-after-pol-pot-died-broken-man-his-memory-looms-large |access-date=26 June 2021 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030104523/https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-post-depth/twenty-years-after-pol-pot-died-broken-man-his-memory-looms-large |editor1-first=Ly |editor1-last=Tayseng |editor2-first=Sam |editor2-last=Rith |editor3-first=Phak |editor3-last=Seangly |editor4-first=May |editor4-last=Kunmakara |editor5-first=Pen |editor5-last=Simala |work=[[The Phnom Penh Post]] |language=English |publisher=Post Media Co Ltd |publication-place=[[Phnom Penh]], [[Cambodia]] }}</ref> Three days later, his wife cremated his body on a pyre of tyres and rubbish, utilising traditional Buddhist funerary rites.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=442}}

In May, Pol Pot's widow and [[Tep Khunnal]] fled to Malaysia, where they married.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=443}}<ref name="english.cambodiadaily.com">{{Cite web |url=https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/once-pol-pots-aide-now-a-capitalist-crusader-71102/ |title=Once Pol Pot's Aide, Now a Capitalist Crusader &#124; the Cambodia Daily |date=28 October 2014 |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-date=14 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914115537/https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/once-pol-pots-aide-now-a-capitalist-crusader-71102/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Khmer Rouge themselves continued to face territorial losses to the Cambodian Army and in March 1999 Ta Mok was also captured, and the Khmer Rouge effectively ceased to exist.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=443}}